Parsons frustrated with minutes restrictions

All small forward Chandler Parsons wants for Christmas is to be able to play some more minutes for the Dallas Mavericks.

Well, actually Parsons wishes he could have his minutes increased in time for Friday night’s game at 7:30 at American Airlines Center against the Houston Rockets. But when he left the Mavs’ shootaround Friday morning, the fifth-year veteran was under the impression that he’ll again be limited to playing 25 minutes.

That piece of knowledge has been very frustrating to Parsons, who underwent surgery on his right knee on May 1. And he reacted angrily when he drilled a 3-pointer Monday to get the Mavs within four points of Sacramento early in the fourth quarter, but he was pulled form the game for good because he had reached his minutes restrictions.

"Right when I feel I’m getting going I felt like my minutes restrictions was up,’’ Parsons said after Friday’s shootaround. "That’s part of the process and it’s going to be annoying, it’s going to be frustrating.

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"But it’s just something I’m going to have to deal with until I’m 100 percent.’’

Until the Mavs’ medical staff gives Carlisle the OK to increase Parsons’ minutes, the coach feels his hands are tied.

"There’s nothing we can do about it,’’ Carlisle said. "I’m not exactly sure where it is at the moment. It may be going up, it may not.

"I don’t think we’re anywhere close to being across the finish line, but he’s making great progress. So there’s a lot of positive.’’

Earlier, Parsons used to play the first half of games. And even one game – Nov. 5 against Charlotte -- he played only in the second half.

Parsons is averaging 19.3 minutes this season and has yet to play both ends of a back-to-back.

Carlisle is the person who keeps track of how many minutes Parsons has played, and then gets him out of the game once he reaches his minutes restrictions. Modern technology has made that process easier for Carlisle.

"As soon as there’s a timeout a new stat sheet comes out,’’ Carlisle said. "It’s sitting there and I bring one over and I’m looking at it constantly.

"The minutes count has been a real big thing here the last few years with Dirk (Nowitzki) and some of these other things. When (Jason) Kidd was in the last couple of years we were watching his minutes very closely, but that should be no secret.’’

And when its time for Parsons to depart for good – no matter how well he’s playing and no matter the score of the game – Carlisle knows he has to do what he has to do.

"I take the emotions out of it,’’ Carlisle said. "It’s a reality that we’ve got to deal with.’’

It’s a reality that Parsons isn’t dealing with very well. Like any formidable player, he wants to be on the court, especially when his team is on the ropes, as was the case against Sacramento.

Parsons believes more experimenting is on tap as he hopes to avoid what happened in Sacramento so he can be on the floor during crunch time.

"There’s a couple of things we can do and try out, and we’ll just see how it shakes out and see how it plays,’’ Parsons said. "That’s always been my biggest frustration is not being able to play in the fourth quarter, coming in and coming out so quickly and not having a set rotation.

"It’s not easy for me, it’s not easy for my teammates, and definitely not (easy for) the coaches. We’re going to figure out a way to keep it consistent and get it going.’’